Criminal Justice News

Friday, March 21, 2014

Anthony Williams, of Baton Rouge, La., was sentenced to serve 24 months
in prison followed by two years of supervised release, the Justice
Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) announced today.
Williams previously pleaded guilty to threatening to retaliate against a
witness by causing bodily injury.

According to court documents, Williams is the son of Angela Myers, who
was tried in federal court in Baton Rouge in March 2013 for filing
fraudulent tax returns with stolen identities. One of the witnesses at
Myers’ trial was an individual who testified on March 6, 2013, and the
next day Williams used Instagram, a popular social media platform, to
make a threat against this witness. Williams described the witness as a
“rat” and threatened bodily injury against him in retaliation for his
testimony. As explained in court documents and court proceedings,
federal law enforcement took steps to ensure the safety of the witness
and to prevent the threat from being carried out. On March 7, 2013, a
jury found Myers guilty on 21 felony counts and she was later
sentenced to serve 11 years in prison
. Williams was indicted in July 2013 and pleaded guilty to
making the threat in October 2013.

“Our legal system depends on witnesses testifying without the fear of
retribution,” said Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally for the
Tax Division. “This prosecution shows that the Justice Department will
take action when someone threatens a witness.”

“Threatening or intimidating a witness in a federal criminal matter is a
quick way to find yourself in federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney J.
Walter Green for the Middle District of Louisiana. “Our office will
continue to have zero tolerance for such conduct and will continue to
devote the necessary resources to aggressively pursue those who engage
in such conduct. No one should fear speaking the truth about possible
federal criminal activity.”

“It is extremely important for witnesses who provide testimony in
criminal matters to know that our justice system protects them from
retaliation,” said Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation
Gabriel L. Grehan. “It is also appropriate for Anthony Williams to
suffer the consequences of his actions to threaten a witness in a
criminal proceeding. IRS-CI would like to thank the Department of
Justice and our federal law enforcement partners for pursuing this case
to its foreseeable end.”

Assistant Attorney General Keneally and U.S. Attorney Green commended
the efforts of special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation and TIGTA,
who investigated the case, and of Tax Division Trial Attorney Jason
Poole and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Stevens, who prosecuted the case.